All posts tagged kids craft

I guess this was the year of receiving fun dip as a Valentine treat. My kids know by now just to hand it over to me. Trust me, they get a lot of treats (they’re not deprived). This dye loaded candy just makes the best art supplies and experiments. They’re smart enough (at least the readers) to look at the ingredients and see which treats will make cool experiments, or in this case glossy paint. Egg tempura painting is an ancient painting technique and was used by many early renaissance painters.

Using the egg yolk gives the paintings a great glossy look after they’re dry and the sugar crystals create a great texture. Emma had a sweetheart brand of fun dip that made hers more of a vivid color.

We modified the egg tempura paint recipe from this list and replaced the food coloring with the fun dip. There are many other homemade paint recipes to try here. Let me know if you experiment with any you like.

Another way we like to use colored powdered candies is to mix them with baking soda and vinegar for a little colored volcano explosions. Go outside, take some dirt and form a mound, make a hole/indention at the top and pour baking soda and vinegar (and optional candy powder) in to make the lava. Loads of fun!

So, if you ever find yourself with an overload of treats with added dyes try out some paint experiments.

Ever since I saw this activity here on The Artful Parent many moons ago it has been a favorite ” go to ” activity in so many situations. Mostly I have used it while prepping dinner, but it has served as the perfect activity during long and short car rides, restaurant visits, and random times of the day. It’s such an EASY, yet stimulating, game and can be played so many ways + it’s the most requested one in the house. First, have your child (or children) obtain a drawing surface … paper or sketchpad. (sketchpads are great to see the progression of creativity… maybe even leave a few in the kitchen solely for “simon says art” ). Then say Simon says “draw a sailboat, or a train, or a jungle scene”. Another idea is progression drawing. Simon says “Draw a flower. Now, Simon says “draw someone picking the flower”. The possibilities are endless. Have them fill the page with their creations. When working with different ages it sometimes works well to give them each something different to draw. We have progressed from simple shapes to very detailed people with armor and actions and detailed journeys and adventures. This is also a great art activity to engage the entire family. Cover the table with brown kraft paper and fill it with drawings. Recently, after some blank moments as “Simon” I enlisted siblings to choose the theme for each other. This has worked out so well I can’t believe it took me so long to think of this version. I really have found that the simplest of activities have been the most rewarding and stress free.